Valenhaad was vast.

It stretched from one horizon to the other, an ocean of steel and concrete. Black skyscrapers pierced the sky, stretching past the cloud cover. The city’s walls, called ‘Vales’ divided Valenhaad into seven industrial rings. From her view in her plane, Hiromi had no trouble telling apart the wealthy areas of the city from the poor.

Their arrival into the airport was a quiet affair. A part of her expected a waiting crowd, but there was no one around save for their escort of armored cars. 

They sped through the city at a hundred kilometers an hour, sections of the winding highway cleared for them. Castle Valenhaad loomed at the very center of the city, sitting atop the Asher Peak. Their drive up the winding road allowed her a moment to appreciate the beauty and scale of the city. 

She let out a wistful sigh.

For the next five years, this city would be her home. 

Her arrival into the castle was also a quiet affair, without the fanfare she expected out of the arrival of a princess. 

They drove past pairs of large, ornate black gates, each one adorned with the sigils of the various royal families who pledge fealty to the House Knightstein.  

They arrived at a large garden in the southern entrance of Castle Blackhaven. Amidst towering redwood trees and standing before the imposing black walls of the castle, was a woman wearing a simple black dress. Behind her were a collection of soldiers and knights and ladies, all in their finery.

Hiromi let out another sigh.

She didn’t like to admit it, but she felt nervous. 

“Yeah, this isn’t how I pictured this to go at all,” Hiromi said easing into her seat.

Myriad gave her a look from the front seat of the car. Her secretary’s red eyes and white her made her look unnatural. Imposing. Like she was a woman that didn’t belong in this world. 

“Is there a problem, Highness?” Myriad asked.

Hiromi waved her hand dismissively. 

“I’m just trying to collect myself,” she replied. “Give me a moment.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Okay. Moment over.” 

And with that she opened the door of the car and stepped out. To the surprise of her attendants she strode steadily and confidently toward the waiting foreign princess. Myriad and her guards scrambled after her, a few huffing beneath their breaths.

Princess Cladia raised her brow as she watched Hiromi approach.

The closer Hiromi got to the girl, the more she realized just how beautiful the princess was. A perfect, angular face, eyes like violet gemstones, and hair that stretched a few inches past her breasts. She wore a simple circlet on her head. Princess Cladia’s beauty was a simple sort of thing. At a glance, it didn’t even seem that she was royalty.

Hiromi stopped about a meter from the foreign princess and curtsied.

“Your Highness,” Hiromi said.

She heard the hurried footsteps of her retinue behind her. Myriad and the rest of her companions stopped behind her, bowing respectfully at their host. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Hiromi said, leveling her gaze at Princess Cladia.

Cladia smiled. “I can tell that you’re not a big fan of formalities.”

Hiromi shrugged. “Eh. It’s just the two of us.”

“Highness!” Myriad hissed from somewhere behind her.

Cladia’s smile widened. “It’s alright. Father sent me down here to meet with you and I was afraid that we both had to go through the usual motions.” 

She placed her hands on her hips. Hiromi could tell that even Cladia’s retinue were confused at how this meeting was turning out.

“Normally, I’d give you a tour of the castle. Show you around after breakfast. But the rest of the family isn’t around, my brother, your betrothed, especially, so it’d just be the two of us eating while our servants awkwardly watched from the side,” Cladia said. “I can’t tell that you’re not interested in that.”

“Yeah. That sounds boring.”

“Great!” Cladia strode forward and hooked an arm around Hiromi’s, dragging her away. “Let’s walk and talk, then, princess.”

Hiromi laughed. “Lead the way, princess!”

She didn’t expect things to go this way, but she had to admit that her future sister in law wasn’t so bad. 

“Oh!” she said, after a few paces. She looked back to where Myriad and the rest of their servants were. The two groups of attendants were watching them go with a look of confusion on their faces, not really knowing what to do.

“Which one of you guys has my phone?” she called.

One of her servants fumbled with her purse and raised a phone into the air.

Hiromi stretched her hand, aiming her fingers at the phone. She burned her cores, summoning her magic. The phone was tugged from the girl’s hand, flew through the air, and landed in Hiromi’s palm. 

She smiled at Cladia, swiping upward on her phone. 

“Let’s take a picture together, first.”

The other princess complied, as they brought their cheeks together, smiles wide on their faces. The shot wasn’t perfect, tut it was happy. Two girls smiling before an elaborate garden, behind them a retinue of servants, soldiers and knights, looking onward in confusion. 

Hiromi allowed Cladia to lead the way. She was happy with how things were turning out, but at the back of her mind, she thought about one of the main reasons she was here. She thought about her betrothed, Ardrian, and what he was currently up to. 

She was curious, excited to meet the man who would be her husband. 

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A light drizzle fell upon the streets of Nitelfore. 

Ardrian Knightstein stood on the steps of a church, the wind blowing against his cloak. The area around the church was a hub of activity. Soldiers, dressed in their armor, moved to and fro, weapons— rifles and swords and spears— strapped on their backs.

Beyond the area of the church a perimeter was set and beyond that perimeter were the citizens of Nitelfore. Cloaked in thick furs and leather, most so covered that only their eyes could be seen beneath their hoods. The  army brought a commotion to the city. The once quiet town had trouble keeping up with all of the soldiers and supplies arriving. The citizens could have never imagined that the empire’s eyes would be on them so suddenly.

Ardrian turned, feeling a presence to his right.

Serah stood beside him, in her hand she held a cup of hot chocolate.

He took it after giving her a curious look. It always felt weird whenever his sister acted nice.  

Serah Knightstein. The heir apparent. 

Her cloak was as white as the snow that surrounded them, her eyes were ruby red, giving her a ghostly appearance. Legend said that those born with white hair were powerful magi— gifted by the Creator. Ardrian didn’t exactly believe in hearsay and legends, but he knew that Serah was one of the most powerful witches in the world, perhaps only rivaled by their father.

“I don’t even know why we’re here,” Ardrian said eventually. He appreciated silence but in this moment he wanted to talk. It wasn’t a matter of nerves for the upcoming operation, but rather out of a need to hear his sister’s opinion. 

He gestured at the soldiers. “This is already a little excessive.”

“You’re right. That’s why we’re not sending them in. Only the two of us will be speaking to the rebels.” 

“What?” Ardrian blinked.

Cladia shrugged, sipping from a cup she held loosely in her hand. “It was Father’s decision. Intel tells us that the rebels are now willing to talk. The two of us will be accepting their surrender on Father’s behalf.”

Ardrian sighed in relief. “They should have surrendered earlier. Doing so could have prevented so much bloodshed.”

Serah turned around and began to walk, her cloak billowing behind her. “They shouldn’t have rebelled in the first place.”

Ardrian shook his head, took a sip from his drink, and followed after her. 

“Their leader is a man named Discol Isenhorn. We are to meet him at a distant, isolated location,” Serah said. 

“Hm.”

Serah glanced over her shoulder and smirked. “You don’t sound the least bit concerned, brother.”

Ardrian’s eyes were straight ahead. “Why should I? I’m with you. And besides, they’re just rebels on their last legs.”

They walked for a time toward the gate of the church, soldiers pausing in their tasks and bowing at the two of them as they passed.

“I feel like something is bothering you,” Serah mused. She always held an air of authority, but sometimes her voice took up a tone of mischievousness.

Ardrian furrowed his brows. “It’s nothing”

A soldier was waiting for them beside an armored car. He saluted, before ushering them in. They drove through the noisy, wet streets, toward a far corner of the city. After a time, Serah pouted in his direction and grinned. “You’re worried about your engagement, aren’t you?”

Ardrian wasn’t in the mood, so he simply shrugged. “Why should I worry about that?”

“I don’t know, maybe because once you’re hitched you won’t be able to sleep around as easily as before,” Serah replied.

“Please. We both know that’s not how that works. Everyone knows that marriage isn’t an obstacle for people to sleep around in this country,” Ardrian said. “Especially a marriage born out of necessity like the one I’ll be in.”

He sighed, head leaning against the car’s window. 

“I’m just a bit worried about the girl,” he said. “Genevede isn’t part of the Empire. I’m not sure how she’ll fare, surrounded by wolves and snakes on all sides.”

Serah smiled. “If that happens, then it’s your responsibility as her prince to protect her and make sure that no harm comes her way.”

Ardrian shrugged, letting the conversation fizzle out. He didn’t agree with her. It wasn’t his job to babysit his betrothed. And besides, he didn’t think that she needed protection. From what he’s heard, Hiromi Havashira was a perfectly capable young woman.

They soon arrived at a dilapidated park in a section of the city that resembled a ghost town. They stepped outside, standing together as the car drove away.

“See anything?” Ardrian asked, eyes scanning the buildings for snipers and other magi. 

“Yeah,” Serah said.

He felt his sister burning her cores. Her eyes were now aglow with the power of a Verum Viide.

He sighed, burning his own cores and invoking the same spell in his eyes. 

The world brightened, the details of the park and the city sharpened through his eyes. 

With the effect of the spell now in motion, he had no trouble seeing the shapes of men and women on the windows of the buildings surrounding the park. From one of the doorways, a man emerged, flanked by a pair of men holding rifles. 

Serah strode forward. Ardrian followed close behind. 

His mind for a moment drifted to Hiromi Havashira, the foreign princess his family wanted him to marry. By now she would have already arrived at the capital, already be meeting his family. A part of him yearned for the peace in Valenhaad, a part of him wondered how Hiromi would deal with the dangers of the Emperor’s court.